1 ^hIn the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ⁱHezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was ^jtwenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^kAbi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 ^lAnd he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 4 ^mHe removed the high places and broke the ⁿpillars and cut down ^othe Asherah. And he broke in pieces ^pthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).¹ 5 ^qHe trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, ^rso that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 ^sFor he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. 7 ^tAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, ^uhe prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 ^vHe struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, ^wfrom watchtower to fortified city.

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^xShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in ^yHalah, and on the ^yHabor, ^ythe river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.